Methionine was found to be more efficient than formate, serine, bicarbonate, formaldehyde, or choline as a source of the C-28 methyl group of ergosterol in yeast (1). While transfer of an intact methyl group to carbon has not been previously recorded, oxidation of the methyl group of methionine to formate has been demonstrated and formate-Cl* has been shown to give rise to C-28 of ergosterol (2...

Wide differences exist among the polyene antibiotics, nystatin, rimocidin, filipin, pimaricin, and amphotericin B, with reference to steroid interference with their antifungal activities against Candida albicans. Of the numerous steroids tested, ergosterol was the only one which effectively antagonized the antifungal activity of all five polyene antibiotics. The antifungal activities of nystati...

The electrophoretic behavior of powdered ergosterol crystals is identical with that previously found for cholesterol within the limits of experimental error. Evidence for an adsorption hypothesis is presented to explain this phenomenon.

The (1)H NMR technique was applied to study binding of AmB, an antifungal drug, to lipid membranes formed with egg yolk phosphatidylcholine. The analysis of (1)H NMR spectra of liposomes, containing also cholesterol and ergosterol (at 40 mol%), shows that AmB binds preferentially to the polar headgroups. Such a binding restricts molecular motion of the choline fragment in the hydrophilic region...

The thiocarbamate antimycotics tolnaftate and tolciclate blocked sterol biosynthesis in fungal cells and cell extracts, with accumulation of squalene. This point of action was confirmed by the direct inhibition of microsomal squalene epoxidase from Candida albicans. There was no inhibition of other steps in ergosterol biosynthesis. In whole Candida cells, ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition was ...

Endophytic fungi are fungi that colonize internal tissues of plants; several biologically active compounds have been isolated from these fungi. There are few studies of compounds isolated from endophytic fungi of Amazon plants. Thus, this study aimed the isolation and structural identification of ergosterol (1), ergosterol peroxide (2), mevalonolactone (3), cytochalasin B (4) and cytochalasin H...

Background and Purpose: The frequency of opportunistic fungal infections in immunocompromised patients, especially by Candida species, has sharply increased in the last few decades. The objective of this study was to analyse the ergosterol content and gene expression profiling of clinical isolates of fluconazole resistant Candida albicans. Materials and Methods: Sixty clinical samples were ide...

Fluconazole is commonly used both to prevent and to treat invasive neonatal Candida albicans infection. This drug is a potent, selective, triazole inhibitor of the fungal enzymes involved in ergosterol synthesis. It is largely excreted unchanged in the urine. In infants with a birth weight